Circles of Support & Accountability: an Evaluation of the Pilot Project in South-Central Ontario

________ Research Report __________ Circles of Support & Accountability: An Evaluation of the Pilot Project in South-Central Ontario This report is also available in French. Ce rapport est également disponible en français. Veuillez vous adresser à la Direction de la recherche, Service correctionnel du Canada, 340, avenue Laurier ouest, Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0P9. Should additional copies be required they can be obtained from the Research Branch, Correctional Service of Canada, 340 Laurier Ave., West, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0P9. 2005 N0 R-168 Circles of Support & Accountability: An Evaluation of the Pilot Project in South-Central Ontario Robin J. Wilson, Janice E. Picheca & Michelle Prinzo Correctional Service of Canada May, 2005 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The latter part of the 20th Century was witness to considerable renewed interest in restorative approaches to crime and offender management. Ironically, professional interest in restoration increased as the public’s cries for more punitive measures rang out loud and clear. Politically, such measures as detention, specialized peace bonds, registries, and long term supervision orders were instituted as a means to demonstrate that the system was serious about “getting tough on crime”. Meanwhile, meta-analytic reviews of the effects of incarceration and rehabilitative programming continued to suggest that longer, harsher sentences were not likely to achieve the sort of value-added that either the public wanted or the government hoped to achieve. No offender population has been more affected by these perspectives than sexual offenders. Understandably, the public has rather strong views about sexual offender risk management, and this has been reflected to a degree in policy and practice. However, one simple truth remains: the vast majority of sexual offenders receives determinate sentences and, as such, will return to the community. Experiences in the past 10 years have clearly demonstrated the need for a coordinated approach to sexual offender reintegration, but serious shortfalls in both service provision and offender accountability have remained. The Circles of Support & Accountability initiative began, quite simply, as an innovative response to a single set of circumstances: a high risk, repeat, child sexual abuser was released to the community from a federal penitentiary. The response of the community was swift - picketing, angry calls for political intervention, heightened media attention, and 24-hour police surveillance. In response to the offender’s pleas for assistance, a Mennonite pastor agreed to gather a group of congregants around him, to offer both humane support and a realistic accountability framework. Following a similar intervention with another offender a few months later, the Mennonite Central Committee of Ontario (MCCO) agreed to sponsor a pilot project called the Community Reintegration Project, and the Circles of Support & Accountability (COSA) movement was born. Ten years after the initiation of the first Circle, similar projects have been seeded in all Canadian provinces, several jurisdictions in the United States of America, each of the member countries of the United Kingdom, and interest has been indicated by such countries as the Netherlands, South Africa, and Bermuda. These projects have come about as a result of positive outcome data originating from the MCCO pilot project. This report represents a formal review of this project. To examine the impact of the MCCO project, two studies were conducted. The first study consisted of a survey that examined the experiences of the various members of COSA: Core Members (the offenders); Circle Volunteers, and Professionals and Agencies affiliated with the project. In addition, members of the community-at-large were surveyed to determine their views regarding COSA, and its existence in their community. The results from that first study show that the COSA initiative has had a profound effect on all stakeholders: offenders, community volunteers, affiliated professionals, and the community-at- large. Core Members generally reported that while they initially felt mixed emotions about COSA, over time, they felt thankful for having its help. In addition, 90% of Core Members reported that in the absence of COSA, they would have had difficulties adjusting to the -i- community, and two-third felt they likely would have returned to crime without the help from COSA. Circle Volunteers reported that they felt the community experienced an increase in community safety as a result of COSA and the Core Member would have reoffended had he not been involved in COSA. The majority of Volunteers also reported that they felt supported by the COSA organization and its associated professionals. Professionals and Agencies surrounding COSA included police officers, social services professionals, and administrators and other similar professions. A majority of these professionals had been involved with COSA for at least 3 years. The Professionals/Agencies respondents indicated that what they liked the most about COSA was that it increased offender responsibility and accountability, and that community safety and support are the focus of the project. In addition, while a third of them, however, reported that they would somewhat change the guidelines governing COSA to add more structure and boundaries between Core Members and Volunteers, three quarters felt that the project should be expanded. Finally, results from the survey of the community-at-large showed that 68% of respondents from the public reported they would feel safer if they found out that a high risk sexual offender in their community belonged to a Circle. They felt that an offender who participates in a Circle would be receiving additional support and supervision. They also felt that his involvement would indicate that he was motivated not to re-offend Study 2 consisted of an examination of the impact of COSA on recidivism. A group of 60 high risk sexual offenders involved in COSA after having been released at the end of their sentence were matched to a group of 60 high risk sexual offenders who had been released at the end of their sentence, but who did not become involved in COSA. Offenders were matched on risk; length of time in the community; and prior involvement in sexual offender specific treatment. The average follow-up time was 4.5 years. For the purpose of the study, recidivism was defined as having a new sexual offense, or for having breached a condition imposed by the Court. Only official documentation was utilized and, in most cases, this information came in the form of CPIC (Canadian Police Information Check, a national database of offense histories) records indicating that a charge had been laid or a conviction registered. Results show that the offenders who participated in COSA had significantly lower rates of any type of reoffending than did the offenders who did not participate in COSA. Specifically, offenders who participated in COSA had a 70% reduction in sexual recidivism in contrast to the matched comparison group (5% vs. 16.7%), a 57% reduction in all types of violent recidivism (including sexual – 15% vs. 35%), and an overall reduction of 35% in all types of recidivism (including violent and sexual - 28.3% vs. 43.4%). Further, a considerable harm reduction function has been noted in the COSA sample, in that sexual reoffenses in this group were categorically less severe than prior offenses by the same individual. This function was not observed in the matched comparison group. Overall, COSA participants have been responsible for considerably less sexual, violent, and general offending in comparison to their matched compatriots, ultimately contributing to savings both financially and, more importantly, in regard to human suffering. -ii- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Portions of this report were adapted with permission from a chapter by Robin J. Wilson and Janice E. Picheca written for the forthcoming book, The Sexual offender, vol. 5 (B. K. Schwartz, Ed.), to be published by Civic Research Institute, Kingston, NJ. The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Mennonite Central Committee of Ontario, the Government of Canada, or the Correctional Service of Canada. The authors would like to thank Eileen Henderson, Rev. Harry Nigh, Drew McWhinnie, Rev. Hugh Kirkegaard, Det. Wendy Leaver, Gerry Minard, Evan Heise, Ed Vandenburg, and Rev. David Molzahn for their assistance in facilitating this review. We are also thankful for the research grant provided by the Research Branch of the Correctional Service of Canada, as well as the support and assistance of Drs. Franca Cortoni and Ralph Serin from the Branch. We are also grateful to the many persons who provided personal information and perspective: Circle Volunteers, various professionals, and members of the community-at-large. The support and facilitation provided by the Mennonite Central Committee of Ontario (specifically, Rick Cober Bauman) has been invaluable. Last, but by no means least, we are particularly indebted to the Core Members who have shown much courage in the face of great adversity and challenge - all the while demonstrating that the “lowest of the low” can make a worthwhile contribution to society. -iii- TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...............................................................................................

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